Chaos
by EmpressKiova
Summary: As the rise of technology spreads throughout the world, the knowledge of bending has died, though the abilities have not. However, with the passing of time, more and more people are rediscovering these abilities, though some in the worst possible ways.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

**_I know I'm in the middle of a Lion King story right now, but my stress is calling for some other form of relaxation, so please bear with me. This story takes place in present day. I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender._**

**_I'm sorry it's long. I don't know if all of the chapters will be like this, but I found the details to be extremely important._**

Kali disliked people. She disliked people greatly. People her age, seniors in high school, didn't think things through too well. They were extremely disrespectful, extremely judgmental, and _extremely_ boring. Kali dislike that which was boring.

Kali liked numbers and logic, and as much as she loved numbers and logic, she loved chaos as well. Kali liked seeing the world for what it was, but _reveled_ in the possibilities she imagined the world around her capable of. Kali enjoyed reading fantasy novels, but only very specific ones. She enjoyed Harry Potter but despised Twilight. She liked things with a beautiful and logical, yet chaotic world built into the storyline. She hated sappy romance books, finding them as tedious as her classmates.

When she found a particularly good book or series, she would take the time to encode it into binary as best as she could. She felt it helped her memorize the books and she liked knowing that if ever she lost the books, she could lose herself in that beautiful world through simple numbers.

When she was particularly exasperated she would retreat into her own mind and explore the possibilities of the physical realm. She would delve into the possibilities of manipulating the fabric of reality, distorting light into a cloak of invisibility, and transcending time through meditation to better understand times passed.

She enjoyed control, but she enjoyed chaos as well, because she was of the strong believe that chaos, on some level, could be controlled. She believed that controlling chaos was the key to manipulating reality, distorting light, and transcending time.

All she had to do was find the right chaos.

That is what she did every day. Every day, when she was not encoding Harry Potter or retreating into the recesses of her mind, she watched. She watched for patterns to emerge and, around those patterns, for a distinct _lack_ of patterns to emerge.

Every day, Kali woke at 8 am, lucky to be in a community that felt their youth should have the hours of sleep recommended. She got up, showered, and got dressed. She checked the weather and her email, ate a small breakfast, and walked to school. She lived a half an hour away, but was determined to experience the patterns around her so that she may recognize a lack thereof when it came knocking.

Every day Kali attended her classes, first AP Statistics, then a study hall, the Spanish 3, then lunch. She had another study hall after that, then AP Physics, which she hoped to pursue into theoretical quantum mechanics and quantum physics, and finally AP Psychology, which she also enjoyed. She felt that humans were the perfect example of the balance of chaos and order. Where there seems to be chaos, there is always order, in the mind of a man.

She was in her second study hall when her first glimpse of true chaos presented itself.

She spent her first study hall doing homework that was due the second half of that day. Her second study hall was used to finish any unfinished homework and homework for the next day's first half. She had finished the notes she required for AP Psych, being in the habit of taking extensive notes in a shorthand that was incredibly difficult for anyone else to decipher, and was, at that moment, attempting to do homework for AP Physics that would be due the next period. She was going to need the entire study hall period if she was going to figure out the patterns of the derivatives. She had never taken calculus and had no idea it could have such a large part in physics. She supposed she would have to take the class in college or something. It was still early in the year- maybe she could switch.

She was considering switching math classes when some blithering buffoon came barging into study hall- late- with a group of friends she was fairly certain had no place there. She did her very best to ignore them, hoping they would be kicked out by the teacher., but with her study hall teacher obsessed with beating her AP Stats teacher at Trivia Crack, it seemed no kicking-out would ensue.

Kali tried and attempted to focus on her work. She'd had the paper a few days and would normally have been done by then, but the derivatives had her stumped. She refused to take them home to work on them- enjoying the work she did at home far too much to give up any of the time she had dedicated to it.

The idiots, a group of random guys with no respect for those around them, were joking with a group of girls near her, their amassed group consisting of the majority of her study hall. Kali sighed, realizing she would have no luck. It was ten minutes into her hour-long study hall and she was royally pissed. She slammed her books shut as loudly as she could, hoping to catch the attention of the newcomers. She always made sure to let others know when she was irritated.

That caught their attention. The girls of the group gave her annoyed glances, one, going as far to smirk and make a comment on her attire. "What, honey? Your daddy still sad he didn't have a boy? Why else would he still be buying you such hideous clothes?" Kali snorted. She had hoped they would come up with something she hadn't heard, but was unsurprised that it was the same old shtick. "No. I'm just a little annoyed I can't study because I keep hearing the sound of pigs squealing in the background."

At first the group was confused, but, much like T-Mobile, they eventually got there.

The first person to react was the girl she had insulted, followed by the guy sitting next to her. The girl, short, stocky, and wearing more make up than a clown, gasped, as if Kali had just insulted her mother. The guy sitting next to her, skinny and rocking the determined-to-be-emo-but-still-a-douche look, actually got out of his seat.

Kali sighed. She disliked fighting. It wasn't that she was a pacifist- she actually enjoyed a good fight- but rather that she hated fighting a winning battle. She liked a challenge and he would provide none. He was cocky and self-assured. She knew he would go for cheap shots, and then attempt to impress his girlfriend, Clownface.

"Did you just call her a pig?"

"No, I called you all pigs. There's a difference. One is singularly stupid, while the other is cumulatively stupid."

Oh that got them going. She knew she shouldn't antagonize them, but they were ruining her Friday. She was almost free for the weekend and she hated when people ruined that good feeling. The others started telling Emo-Douche to kick her ass, egged on by Clownface. Emo-Douche crossed the rows of tables to her seat, but was stopped by the study hall teacher. "Everyone get back in your seats. I don't want to be held liable if you do something stupid. And please, for the love of god, _shut up_."

Kali smirked. That would probably keep them quiet for a while, maybe long enough for her to work through the derivatives. She pulled her textbook out and dug out her homework and notes on derivatives. What little she had puzzled out was all thanks to her extensive note-taking. She sat down, tucking strands of her dark hair behind her ear. She went back to conferring with her textbook and notes for the better part of the rest of the period.

When Kali got down to it, nothing, short of a deadline and the destruction of her pride and joy, could pull her away. She lost touch with the rest of the world as she delved into the world of numbers, letters and logic. She did not look up, or even twitch, when Emo-Douche started making his way towards her. She did not notice when he positioned himself behind her, and did not register him unscrewing the cap off of a 3 liter bottle of grape soda he had been carrying. She had no idea he held the open bottle poised over her head for a couple of minutes, snickering at her as she failed to register any of her surroundings.

The he tipped the bottle.

Kali screamed bloody murder as the sticky liquid coursed through her hair and down her body. It splattered all over her work, her notes, and her textbook. Her backpack received large quantities as well, but most of it was directed at her head.

Kali flew out of her chair as soon as she overcame the shock. It was a few moments before she was able to react, and by then the bottle had been properly emptied and the entire group was roaring with laughter. The teacher was looking at her, shocked. She turned to face her tormentor and grabbed him by his fake leather jacket. She held him by one hand and delivered a hard punch to his stomach with the other. He fell to the floor, curled in the fetal position and wheezing in pain. She looked at her notes, her work, her belongings, and screamed, a scream of rage that all but silenced the cackling hyenas behind her.

She turned to them, suddenly becoming very quiet.

She whispered as she stalked towards them, the look of a pissed off snake shining in her eyes. "You've destroyed my work. My notes are gone, I will be forced to replace the books, and my classwork for all of my classes is destroyed." She grabbed a girl, who had previously been glaring at her but now cowered in fear, and picked her up. She threw her, a bowling ball into pins, knocking down most of the guys who had positioned themselves atop the tables. She then turned to Clownface, who had had the audacity to mock her attire. She had never been so pissed in her life. She had always had excellent control of herself, reigning in her anger and channeling it into her work, but this… this… _clown-faced pig_ had ruined her notes. Yes, it was early in the year, but her courses were cumulative and she would need to redo all of her notes.

Kali was pissed off to no end when she took the girl by the shoulders, practically lifting her out of her seat. She saw red and the girl screamed. Kali did not care. She did not care that smoke was rising in between her fingers, nor did she care that the girl's scream was of pain rather that fear. She shook the girl and the girl continued to scream. Finally the teacher, whose name Kali had never taken the time to learn, pulled Kali away. Kali turned on the teacher, but would not strike or harm her. The teacher was certainly at fault, but Kali had too deep a respect for her elders to harm her. Kali crumpled, anger turning to tears as she realized she would be behind in her work.

She was soon pulled off of the ground and guided to the office of the assistant principal in charge of the disciplinary actions for juniors and seniors. She did not care. She was, in her head, trying to sort things out. She had her job, training animals, that she did every day. She was also still moving inter her new apartment and would need to oversee the movers to make sure her belongings were well-taken care of. She babysat her brother every day for two hours and would now need to make up her notes and lost work. She would also be forced to pull funds from her training business to pay for the lost textbooks, so she would have to keep an eye on her finances until she was sure rent was on track for the month.

She cried because all of this was wrong. She had set up her new life very carefully so that nothing would go wrong, and now it had. She also had to deal with the fact that she would probably be suspended for fighting, making the work load waiting for her upon her return that much worse.

She was told to wait in the chair they placed her in until the assistant principal arrived, but she couldn't. She wrote a note and left it on the woman's desk, saying she would be getting herself cleaned up in the bathroom nearest the lower section of the library, then left. When she got to the bathroom, she dumped her stuff on the ground under the sink where she went to work.

Kali had not stopped crying, and she had no intention of doing so. She did not believe in bottling things up. Her mother had always taught her that bottling did more harm than good.

She started with her electronics. They were soaked. He cellphone was completely dead, as was the iPad she had checked out of the school library. That would require replacement as well. Her laptop was at home, thankfully. She had decided not to bring it that day in favor of the school device. Next were her textbooks. She only had one. Her other two were kept in the classroom. Her AP Psychology textbook was soaked, all of the pages sticking together. When she was able to separate some of them, she realized that each of the pages was a deep purple.

She tossed the book along with her electronics on the counter next to the sink. Next she pulled out her psych notes. Those were in the same state as the book. She set those aside, but apart from the book and electronics. All of her notes were ruined. The notebook of binary she had been filling was ruined. The only thing safe was her copy of the third Harry Potter- her favorite. She kept that in an airtight pocket, one usually used for food. It had been predicted to rain, and while she had been confident in her bag's ability to manage a light rain, she still cherished the book.

The back itself, a college-sized backpack with the Hogwarts emblem on the main pocket and a special spot for a wand, a limited edition, one-time-only bag, was completely ruined. It had been made to look like faded parchment, so it stained a deep purple easily. The emblem almost could not be recognized.

She set that with her electronics and textbooks. With any luck, she'd be able to press charges and alleviate some of her financial stress.

Her notes and binary were useless, however, and so she threw them out. She took off her jacket, a black jacket with many pockets that was good in nearly all weather, and put it in the sink in front of her. The jacket was black, so the grape wouldn't stain. She ran the hot water over the jacket and let it sit like that while she dealt with the rest of her clothes.

She was going to be soaking wet for the rest of the day, but there was no point in being sticky as well, so she figured she might as well rinse the sticky out.

She always wore three layers; an undershirt (usually a wife-beater), I T-shirt or long sleeved shirt, and her jacket. If she needed to bundle, she wore a thicker jacket, but she seldom had to; she hadn't ever really had issues with the cold.

She stripped off her white T-shirt and put it in a different sink, turning on the hot water. Her beater hadn't taken much, except for the bottom-most hemming, where the grape juice had pooled momentarily in her lap. She ran the under the water. Then she took off her shoes and socks and tossed those under the hot water with her shirt.

Her next big problem was her hair. Her dark brown hair had taken the brunt of the juice and was already beginning to dry into a sticky mass. She turned on one more faucet, hot again, and squatted, bringing herself down far enough that she need only bend her neck back to bring all of her hair under the water.

She was about halfway through working through the sticky tangles, using the hot water as a lubricant, when she heard the clack of heels. She didn't have to turn her head to know that when the heels stopped, her vice-principle would be standing in the doorway, taking in the sight of the bathroom. Kali didn't look at her. She didn't want to have to deal with her VP and her hair at the same time. She hoped the apparent focus on her face would keep any questions at bay for the time being.

No dice.

"Kali Wilson. What are you doing?"

Kali did all she could not to roll her eyes. _What's it look like I'm doing, having my nails done?_ "Washing my hair and giving my clothes a basic rinse ma'am. I'd prefer not to spend the rest of my time at school, and the walk home, sticky and purple. I'd rather be a little damp and purple, but not sticky."

The clacking of heels started up again. She could hear the woman pick up her electronics. "Is this iPad not school property?"

Kali was almost done with her hair. "It is, and I will be pressing charges for its replacement. I can't afford to replace it myself, nor my cell phone. How much was it worth?" The woman sighed. Kali had only dealt with her once and could not remember her name. She wasn't particularly worried. She had done nothing wrong but punch a couple of people. She'd be suspended a week or two at most and be back. While she had one hell of a work load to worry about when she got back, she knew that when it came down to discipline, she would be fine.

Kali finished with her hair and stood, wringing out her hair over the sink before combing it out with her fingers and letting it fall to her waist again.

The woman was just as Kali remembered her from a couple of years ago, when someone had threatened her little sister- she'd broken their nose. The woman was tall, but not as tall as Kali. With Kali standing at five-foot-eleven, the woman was a few inches short and as packing on a few more pounds. She wasn't fat, in Kali's opinion, but rather, pleasingly plump. The woman had seemed nice but stern when Kali first met her, with her auburn hair in a bun and her brown eyes appearing to see into your soul. She was dressed for business, in a black pantsuit with light blue accents and undershirt.

Guessing at Kali's inability to remember her name, she offered her hand. "I am Ms. D'Amico. Miss Wilson, do you understand how much trouble you are in. Do you understand the severity of your situation?" Kali shook her hand, letting go once D'Amico brought her current situation up. "I do. I punched the guy who poured grape soda all over me and my belongings, then threw a girl at a bunch of guys, knocking them down, then shook Clownface around a bit."  
>As kali spoke, she began wringing out her shirt and socks, putting them on. She then took her shoes and used them as buckets to pour water onto the sticky areas of her pants- being everywhere on her pants except where she had been sitting.<p>

"So you have no intention of admitting to using a lighter or some other instrument to give Miss Hamilton third degree burns over her shoulders and across her upper back?"

Kali dropped her shoes, splashing D'Amico's pantsuit with water. "W- what?"

She was shocked. She'd never done such a thing to anyone, much less to some girl whose name she did not know.

D'Amico's stare was hard. She was starting to get a little scary. "You took a lighter of some sort and gave that girl third degree burns. Assuming the skin grows back, she will be horribly scarred, mentally and physically. Are you telling me that you, the only person to have an altercation with her today, did not do this? That the fifteen witnesses, and the girl herself, _lied _to me? I don't think they did, Miss Wilson. So tell me, why pick on her?"

Kali was speechless. She could not move, the shock paralyzing her. She simply stood there, staring at the administrator. "They- they must have been mistaken. I would never—"

Ms. D'Amico stopped her. "Come with me. We need to go see the school psychologist and the resident officer." Kali nodded. She put her shoes on and wrung her coat out before donning that as well. She grabbed her ruined electronics, textbook, bag, and copy of Harry Potter. D'Amico walked out of the bathroom, followed by a shocked and angry Kali. _How could they possibly think I've done this?_ Tears threatened to well up in her eyes as she considered the implications of her situation. _Assuming I'm not put in jail, I'll still never be allowed back in this school. I'll have to manage my job and find an online school, or get a GED. _

She would not cry. She refused to cry. That was not how situations got handled, and this situation needed some _serious_ handling.

Kali was escorted through the hallways, in her soaking wet clothes and carrying her belongings, destroyed or not, to the school's psychologist.


	2. Chapter 2

No One Likes Their Shrinks

**Author's Note:**

**_My sincerest apologies; my friend pointed out that I was a bit repetitive in the opening chapter, but I will not be changing it. I myself like how I did that chapter, though I will attempt to be less repetitive in future chapters. I also understand that this chapter is unfortunately short, but my stress levels right now mean I can't write extensive chapters without panicking over screwing it up. (I'm a bit of a perfectionist.)_**

**_Please note that the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist is that a psychiatrist looks for medicinal solutions- pills, shots, therapy- while a psychologist looks at the cognition, behavior and general interactions with the patient's current (daily or new) environment._**

Ms. Rasok was a sadistic little woman. She was short and thick- dumpy really. She had plain brown hair with streaks of grey throughout it and her face was unfortunately toad-like. Kali was not surprised by the lack of a wedding ring; the woman's personality was about as attractive as her appearance.

Rasok's small office was the same shade of puke green as her pantsuit. The office offered hard vinyl seats for visitors and no window to distract oneself with. Ms. Rasok offered D'Amico coffee, sitting once she had tended to the needs of her fellow staff member.

Kali would have killed for some caffeine. She needed to be fully alert.

Though no caffeine was offered, an uncomfortable vinyl seat was assigned to her.

Once the staff members had their coffee, they sat, D'Amico next to Kali, facing her and the desk dividing them and Rasok, who faced Kali with a concerned look.

"Ms. Wilson, do you understand why you are here?"

Ms. Kosar stared at her hard, apparently wishing to see through Kali to the answer to her question. Kali squirmed.

"Yes. You and Ms. D'Amico are under the impression I assaulted another student with fire, which is preposterous."

D'Amico looked at her with a look of disappointment. "Ms. Wilson, we can't help you if you won't admit your mistake. You hurt another student, and if you don't let us help you, you will be punished to the fullest extent of the—"

Kali slammed her hands on the table. "I D_IDN'T DO IT! I'M UNDER TOO MUCH GODDAMNED STRESS FOR THAT!"_

Rasok glared. "Kali Wilson, you will not speak to us in tat tone." Her look softened after another moment. "If the stress is why you did it, we can help with that. Just admit you did it and we can help you. You're an adult, but the fact is, if you're under too much stress and the girl's parents are willing to take a deal, we may be able to get you some psychiatric help."

Kali fell back in her seat, hanging her head on her chest for a moment, thinking. _I'm 18. I can either be charged with assault with a deadly weapon, which apparently tons of people seem to think I had on my person, or I can take a plea bargain and get help. It might be easier to just take the help, but I don't really have time. I have to keep track of my rent, as well as try to pull in more clients to make up for the lost money from the destroyed school supplies. I also need to watch my little brother since Mom won't be able to pick him up until 5- after she picks Michelle up from Marching Band. _Kali shook her head, trying to clear her head. The administrators stared at her, waiting for a response. She sighed.

"I have a lot of things to do. I have my job training animals, which will require more clients if I'm to pay off the ruined school supplies and keep up on my rent. I also watch my little brother from 3 to 5 in the afternoon. I also have my homework to take care of and notes to catch back up on. I do not understand how I am to manage psychiatric as well as all of that."

Kali was assured she would be given time to pay off her debts to the school. She was also told that as punishment for fighting, she would be suspended for two weeks, giving her plenty of time to catch up on notes.

Kali was still confused. "I am 18- I should not be given this opportunity. I'm not complaining, but I do think that is going to fail and then I'll be screwed."

Rasok looked like she wanted to answer, but D'Amico beat her to it. "The school can't afford another lawsuit. It would be easier to give the family a reasonable settlement than to go to court over not only allowing a student to bring something like a lighter into class, but also teacher incompetence resulting in the harm of a student."

Kali was shocked, but nodded. She'd never realized how desperate a school system really could be for money. She wasn't complaining, however. She was getting off easy. She was told she would not be arrested, though she would be under house arrest (could leave the house between the hours of 7:30 and 4:30) until arraignment. The resident officer told her to pack her things and then go to the main office to sign herself out- there were various procedures she would have to go through before she could go home.


End file.
